It's Just Better This Way
by WingsOfTheHeart19
Summary: 16 year old Laci, was alone in a world where a plague wiped out half of the population, and the undead runs rampant. Being alone suited her just fine, until she ran into a group of misfits. Ever since her family was taken from her by the plague, she has told herself that being alone meant never getting attached and later hurt, but will the sudden company change her mind? *AU*


**I know I have three other stories that aren't even close to being finished, buuuutttt this story has been stuck in my head for a while so was decided to just write it out in a day. Hopefully I can write more soon! R&R please!**

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Smoke began to rise from the newly constructed campfire. It was risky building a fire during the night, but the deer meat had to be cooked or else I would starve. I hadn't eaten in a couple of days and had barely found any clean water. My stomach growled as the odor of cooked meat lingered in the air.

Adjusting to this new life wasn't easy, I had lost everything. My family, my friends, and even that dog that attempted to follow me on my first weeks alone. I kept asking myself, from day one, how did this happen?

In the beginning, people started to get sick, many doctors just thought it was a bad case of the flu, until it wiped out about seventy-five percent of the population. I was one of the lucky ones, if you want to call it lucky. The sickness first attacked one's immune system, and then once that was brought down, the person would begin coughing up blood, like tuberculosis. Except, in this case, as the person got sicker, they would slowly lose feeling in their limbs, eventually leading to paralysis and then death. No one knew where it came from, and what made it spread so quickly, but it eventually killed so many people, my family included. I shuddered at the thought, and pushed away any emotion attempting to resurface.

When the sickness began to spread rapidly, the government quarantined children into camps, where it was supposedly safe from the plague and those...things. In some cases of the plague, some people changed. When a person died from the illness, they had about about a fifty percent chance of changing and being reawakened. I know, I know all those stupid zombie stories we have all heard since birth, about mindless corpses roaming around aimlessly, until finding their prey and feeding off their brains. But even the plague changed that stereotype. The zombies now were different, they were smart and hunted in groups. So if you ever saw one you were bound to see at least five more around the corner.

One rule I learned early on was to stay as far away as possible to large cities, that was were the zombie infestation was the worst. Luckily I had only run into a few, that were easy to pick off, during my travels to my new campsite.

I leaned up against a nearby tree with my weapons within reaching distance. A 9mm pistol I had scavenged from an old hunting store, with limited rounds, so the pistol was only used as last resort. I had a compound bow my father had given me on my sixteenth birthday, back before all this happened a few months ago. I had learned to make arrows early on when my father and younger sister were still alive and well, my mother wasn't so lucky. Lastly was my combat knife I had taken after an attack, and I was the the only survivor. I pushed that memory aside, I didn't want to remember that day, it brought back to many painful memories.

I hadn't realized that the deer meat I had been cooking earlier was starting to burn. Although it was chard around the edges, food was food, and I devoured it. After my measly dinner, I put out the fire, and climbed up the nearest tree. My father taught me that it was best to be off the ground and away from hunting predators. I tied a rope around myself and the branch beneath me. Strands of hair had come unraveled from my ponytail, and was falling in my face. So I fixed my long brown hair into a messy bun, and tied a bandana around my head to act as a headband. My long hair was the last piece of my old life that I wasn't ready to get rid of yet. I know it was impractical, but it reminded me of my other life, the good one.

I closed my eyes to let sleep overtake me, but I was awoken a few hours later. I stayed rooted in my spot against the tree, my bow on my back, my pistol in its holster and same with my knife on my other hip. I decided not to move to reach for my bow, until I saw who was the source of the noise. The bushes rustled beneath me, and three figures emerged. The last time I saw actual humans alive was three months ago when my dad and sister were still alive. I watched curiously from my perch.

"I think we lost them." A boy who looked close to my age said. He had black wavy hair cut short, and had a tattered plaid button up shirt with a white tee shirt underneath and jeans with beat up hiking boots. He then walked over to a girl, with blonde hair braided down her back, who had a look of I-am-about-to-puke. She looked like a Barbie: blonde hair, blue eyes, and apparently she still cared about what she wore, because she wore tight jeans, bright colored designer shoes and some floral top. How the hell is she still alive, you could spot that miles away. A little girl that looked about nine, her black hair and tanned skin resembled the boy.

Suddenly, moans and the sound of about five people or animals were coming this way, I didn't want to interfere with these people that I didn't know, they could betray me later. I had trust issues ever since, well that was a different story. I was better on my own, not having to rely on anyone but myself. But...I couldn't leave them there to die.

Hey! Up here!" I shouted towards them, and they gave me a weary glance, but nodded. First came the blonde girl, and soon after the little girl, the last to come up was the boy. We all squished together on the fat tree branch and a surrounding one. The little girl sat in front of me fear evident in her eyes. The other two sat on the adjacent branch with the blonde girl buried in the arms of the boy.

The volume of the moaning increased and suddenly they broke through the underbrush. The little girl gasp, and hid her face in my arms. She reminded me of my little sister, scared, but always eager to learn. I was shocked by the sudden burst of affection from the girl, but I wrapped my slender arms around her, she had good reason to be scared, I was too.

The began to scratch on the tree and I had to cover the little girls mouth to keep her from shrieking.

"Look at me. You're safe." I whispered to her and she nodded. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if they caught us, but I wasn't going to give them that chance. I slide the little girl back so I had enough room to pull out my bow. After five consecutive shots, the zombies were dead. I heaved out a sign and then dropped to the ground to retrieve my arrows from the dead bodies. When I looked back up at the group they all stood, with their mouths agape.

"That was awesome! Where'd you learn to shoot like that." The boy asked.

"My dad." And I turned to leave. I didn't want to get attached to these people, I already knew the consequences of attachment. Death.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He asked running to catch up with me, the other two close behind him.

But before I could answer something popped out of the bushes and grabbed the blonde girl from behind. She began to scream and struggle, but it was too late, it bit her in the neck. I didn't have enough time to fully react but I pulled my bow out, but the boy beat me to the punch and shot the zombie in the head. The girl dropped to the ground and was gasping for air.

"Austin...I..." But she never finished her sentence, she stiffened and then all her muscles relaxed. There she lay in a puddle of her own blood. The boy just stared at her, and thank god the little girl wasn't paying attention. I was about to back away from the scene that had just unfolded before me, but I stopped myself. I didn't know what to do, affection has never been my thing, so I awkwardly placed my hand on his shoulder. He glanced up in my direction but said nothing. My hand slid off his shoulder and I backed up. I was about to turn to leave, but he called me.

"Hey! Wait up." He said. What was up with this guy? He just lost his girlfriend and he acted like nothing was wrong. I just stared at him. The little girl ran up to Austin and grabbed his hand.

"My name is Blair and that's Austin, he's my big brother." She said smiling, acting oblivious to the current situation. I smiled at Blair and looked to Austin. I didn't want these people following me but I couldn't just walk away because they would just follow.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Laci." And I kept walking with them following right behind.

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**So what did you all think? Let me know if I should continue or not! I hope you liked it!**


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